Devils stay on topArchived from 1998-99 season. | |
The New Jersey Devils scored three unanswered goals in the third period to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 to maintain top place in the Atlantic division.
"This year has been tough in the third period for us," Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur said. "We've not played as well as we wanted. Allowing only one shot was a tremendous effort. You're not going to see that too often against the forwards that they have." Petr Sykora scored the game-winning goal on a power-play with 8:32 left in the game. Patrik Elias added an empty netter to cap the Devils' third period comeback. Jason Arnott had a goal and two assists, Randy McKay and Brad Bombardir also scored for New Jersey, which stopped a two-game winless streak (0-1-1). "It feels really good because we have not played well at home," Sykora said. "We've been playing great on the road. Hopefully this will get us going at home." The Penguins saw their seven-game unbeaten streak came to an end and they fell three points behind the Devils in the standings. "They kicked our (butt)," said Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr, the NHL's leading scorer. "If we can't beat New Jersey, we're not ready. We thought we were ready for the playoffs and we lost to a very good team in a game that could've helped us. What you learn from this loss is you're not ready yet. They were dominant in the third period and they played a perfect game when they got the lead." |
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